Hurricane: After The Storm
by bholley
Summary: An unusual storm falls upon Ponyville, leading to widespread destruction. Rainbow Dash is badly injured while fighting the storm and Twilight must take care of her until the storm ends. Twidash. This is an entry for twilight-the-pony's "After The Storm" prompt competition on the Twidash group on fimfiction.


It would be a lie to say that the day had started like any other. There was no blue sky, no sunshine, no pegasi spiraling playfully through the clouds, and no crowds in the marketplace. Even the Apple clan decided to forego apple bucking in favor of pulling as much of their equipment into the barn as possible. A few ponies were outside boarding up windows to ward off damage from the coming storm. The sky never really turned light that day. Even Celestia's sun was not bright enough to pierce the overwhelming gloom overhead. What illumination filtered through produced an eerie, dark glow. It was a day of twilight.

A unicorn of the same name had been studying the sky since the first clouds came scudding in from the Everfree the evening prior. She was becoming more and more frantic as conditions had gotten worse overnight and she still wasn't sure what was going to happen. Now at midmorning, her atmospheric measurements still made no sense. How could the barometric pressure have fallen so low? She shook the instrument in irritation and quickly recalibrated it. It fell to the same number as before and Twilight's face paled. She called downstairs from the balcony to her two assistants.

"Spike? Owlowiscious?" Both promptly appeared at the door. Spike was wide-eyed and antsy, looking out at the ominous dark sky. Owlowiscious was rather confused. He had been awake all night as usual, but it had never gotten light enough for him to feel like going to sleep. Twilight's anxiety had put him on edge as well. Clearly their work was not done.

"Spike, I need you to send this to the princess," she said and offered him a scroll. "These are the records I've taken the past several hours. It's getting too dangerous to stay up here."

She was right. The wind was whipping along at a much faster pace and the branches of their tree were starting to sway alarmingly. Without comment, Spike disintegrated the scroll and followed Twilight and Owlowiscious down the stairs into the main library.

"Boys, I want you both out of the path of this storm. Owlowiscious, please find Fluttershy and help her round up all her animals. Get them into the cave to the east of town. You know the one, right?"

The owl nodded and spread his wings.

"The storm is coming from the west, so you will have more time than the rest of the town."

He hooted, then took off and soared through the door Twilight had opened for him.

"Please be careful!" Twilight called after him, then she turned to her number one assistant.

"Spike, I need you to go find Scootaloo. I'm going to teleport you to Applejack's farm, so start looking there. When she is safe, I want you to get to safety with the Apples in their cider cellar. Hurry! I don't want you to be caught out in this storm."

Spike mock-saluted and then stood rigidly still, his eyes closed tightly. Twilight rolled her eyes with a small smile, and then in a flash the dragon was gone. When Twilight felt the magical feedback that indicated his safe arrival and felt a small rush of relief. She knew the small orange pegasus didn't have anypony looking out for her, and she knew Spike could be relied upon to ensure her safety as well as his own. No longer terribly concerned for her two assistants, Twilight began making preparations for the storm herself. She opened the basement door and soon books upon books were flying into the darkness, stacking themselves against the walls.

* * *

Spike opened his eyes to find himself falling to the ground. He landed flat on his face after a short drop. He heard a yell behind him and quickly turned around. Applejack was standing sideways defensively, one hind leg ready to strike out. Upon recognizing the scaly little fellow, she relaxed a bit. Spike leapt to his feet, turning toward her.

"Spike! What in tarnation are ya doin' poppin' outta nowhere like that?"

"Twilight sent me to find Scootaloo! Have you seen her?"

"Sure have. She an' Apple Bloom are carryin' water into the cellar. Did Twilight send ya here to weather that storm?"

"She did," Spike said, his voice starting to shake. "It looks pretty bad, AJ," he whimpered, shrinking to the ground.

Applejack looked down at him with compassion and nudged him with a foreleg.

"Don't you worry none, now. Ain't nothin' can harm you if you's in our cellar. Come along now," she led him toward the barn. "I reckon there's a little cider left in some of them barrels if'n you want some."

* * *

In town, Rarity and Sweetie Belle were standing in the kitchen of Sugarcube Corner, watching in amazement as the resident pink earth pony literally moved earth. Pinkie had torn up some of the floorboards and was currently digging an impromptu storm shelter. The Cakes, holding their two foals, seemed relatively unfazed by the flurry of activity. A rattling cacophony of metal on stone echoed from the deepening cavern, surprising the sisters.

"Where did she get that?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"It's probably best that we don't know," Rarity replied, cringing in disgust as a very dirty pony emerged briefly to lay the equally filthy jackhammer at her manicured hooves.

Pinkie dove down once again but was quickly back up and standing in all her muddy glory beside Rarity, who was leaning as far away as possible without actually taking a step.

"Hold onto your party hats!" Pinkie exclaimed. She grinned almost maniacally and pushed a large red button.

An enormous boom shook the building and soil rained down over everything. Rarity screamed in disgust and would have fainted had any available surface been clean enough to collapse upon. Instead, she pranced in place squealing her displeasure. Sweetie Belle, having no such qualms, looked down into the hole at the beaming pink pony below. Spotlessly clean, Pinkie Pie grinned back and beckoned them to come down. A red carpet was literally laid out up to the mouth of the hole. It descended into a rather upscale living room in the deep.

Rarity's wail warbled off into a coo of approval as she waltzed down the incline into the safe haven. Unable to contain herself, Pinkie Pie began bouncing behind the two families, herding them into the shelter. She was so happy about making them happy that she broke into song. The outside world was spared her melodies as a huge steel door sprang shut behind them, locking them into Pinkie's storm shelter. Rarity screamed again.

* * *

Owlowiscious was quite proud of how quickly he made it to Fluttershy's cottage. He tried to pretend that his speed wasn't due to the tailwind produced by the storm roiling behind him. He arrived in Fluttershy's yard in a flurry of wings and feathers.

"Oh, Owlowiscious," Fluttershy murmured rushing to his side, "are you all right?"

The owl shook off his rough landing and hooted imploringly at the gentle pegasus.

"Twilight said it's that bad?"

Owlowiscious hooted again.

"The cave? But…"

He gave her a flat, deadpanned look and shook his wings out for emphasis.

"I see. Ohh, I'll have to get everyone to safety, and there are so many little ones," she fretted.

Owlowiscious puffed up his chest and hooted authoritatively.

"I am ever so glad Twilight sent you to help me," Fluttershy gushed quietly. "That is, if you don't mind."

Not fifteen minutes later, the storm started to hit the western side of Ponyville with a vengeance. By then the Apple family, Spike, and Scootaloo were safely locked into the cellar. They could hear the sheets of rain hammering on the barn roof, but they were safe and warm in the ground below. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and the Cake family were comfortably seated in Pinkie's extravagantly decorated storm shelter.

Elsewhere in town, ponies had either retreated into their basements or were huddled behind boarded windows in inner rooms of their houses. Fluttershy and her menagerie were safely interred behind a bend in the cave wall. Owlowiscious escorted the yellow pegasus and her last collection of critters into the cavern. He peered out anxiously into the dusty howling wind at the cave mouth before Fluttershy gently pulled him back to a safer perch.

"It's okay, sweet owl," she said softly. "Twilight will be safe in her basement. Thank you for helping me save all of my little friends."

Twilight was indeed safe in her basement. She had finally managed to pull every book in the library down into the basement and had stacked them to the ceiling across the far wall. She shoved the remains of an old experiment under the stairs to make way for her bed. Judging by how low the atmospheric pressure dropped and for how long it had stayed down, the storm might last a long time and she wanted to be prepared. As raindrops started hitting harshly on the dusty ground, she pulled a large collection of firewood into the basement beside the cold stone fireplace built into the wall. She situated the bed nearby, as well as her favorite reading chair. Not everything could fit, but Twilight couldn't let her favorite things be ruined if worst came to worst. Almost as an afterthought, she pulled a basin of drinking water, some food from the kitchen, and a first aid kit down to her refuge before shutting the door. All of her windows were boarded up, and soon smoke emerged from the ground-level stovepipe. Twilight was safe.

* * *

Down below, it seemed that Ponyville was ready to weather the storm. Above it, high in the atmosphere, a fierce battle was still going on. For hours the Ponyville weather team had been battling the clouds. For every wingspan forward they forged, the angry dark clouds pushed them back three. One by one the squads routed, fleeing to Cloudsdale or other upper-atmosphere dwellings out of reach of the worsening tempest. Rainbow Dash was not interested in joining them. The rest of her squad fled, but not her. Rainbow Dash was far too stubborn to let a bunch of clouds win. _Now it's personal, _she thought as she kicked a cumulus into nonexistence.

Her brave smile faltered as she saw the huge wall of nearly black cloud looming over her. It felt like a tidal wave about to engulf her. Even this high up it dimmed the light of the sun. Rainbow sneered at the menace and rushed at it. Kicking, punching, bucking, even biting, Rainbow fought the storm with all she had in her. Soon she was absolutely engulfed. Winds howled, pulling hard at her wings. These Everfree clouds were _hard_. Rainbow was soon rather bruised by their impacts. It fueled her passionate anger. How _dare_ these clouds threaten her home! Her loyalty to her town powered her efforts. Unbelievably, the storm got worse. She had been pushed back to the outskirts of Ponyville. A brief lapse in concentration earned her a hailstone to the nose. She flattened her ears back and assaulted the offending cloud. It was to no avail. Hailstones and shrapnel pelted her body all over, stinging like darts. She felt feathers rip out and screamed in pain. Her cry was cut short by a branch that collided sharply with the side of her head. She heard the cracking of a shattering structure somewhere beneath her as she fell helplessly to earth. She was unconscious before she hit the ground.

Rainbow woke painfully, her entire body aching. She found herself lying in mud, surrounded and partially covered by pieces of somepony's roof. She wriggled out from under some splintered lumber and gasped in pain, stumbling to her knees. Her right hoof felt as if it were on fire. She groaned as she hobbled on her other three hooves out of the rubble heap. She looked around and was surprised to find it bright and sunny, if very damp. She turned and looked farther out, grimacing as her sore neck complained. A vicious, swirling cloud wall surrounded the entire area. In the center was sunlight and herself and… the library? Pieces of the library? Rainbow noticed the sign, broken in half and lying on the ground. The tree was destroyed. Empty bookcases broken and lying in pools of water, bark and leaves strewn everywhere, it looked as though the building had simply exploded. Panic set into Rainbow's chest. _Twilight!_

"Twilight!" she yelled frantically.

Rainbow staggered over broken pieces of her friend's home, trying to get closer to what still stood, hoping beyond hope that Twilight was alive in there somewhere. She tripped and tried to catch her balance by flapping her wings, but she cried out in pain and collapsed, sliding into a puddle of rainwater. She howled Twilight's name as loud as she could, trying desperately to get out of the hole and find her friend.

From within the basement, Twilight was surprised to hear the storm suddenly go still. An idea forming in her mind, she reached with her magic for a book, _Hurricanes in Equestria_. She realized with alarm that if this _was_ a hurricane, then the eye must be directly overhead. The worst of the storm was yet to come. She was again surprised to hear a familiar voice calling her name. Screaming for her. Somepony… _outside?!_

"_TWILIGHT!"_

She recognized that voice. Springing to action, she raced up the stairs. The door was blocked from the outside, but with an arcane push it flew open. A glance around the surroundings confirmed what Twilight had feared – the library was gone. In its place was a field of debris, and in the center of that…

"Rainbow!"

Twilight was shocked. Hadn't Rainbow told her that the weather team would pull out if it got too dangerous? Yet here she was, lying in the wreckage of Twilight's home.

"Twi! You're okay!" Rainbow cried, nearly fainting with relief. She tried to move closer but collapsed, feeling incredibly dizzy. She looked down at herself and saw that her coat was stained red with blood. "Ohh…"

"Rainbow!" Twilight called again, stepping out of her basement. "Rainbow, are you okay?" _Of course she's not okay, you foal,_ Twilight admonished herself. _Is that blood?_

"Twi, help…" Rainbow trailed off miserably, before going completely limp.

Twilight caught her in a magical grip and gently lifted her. Looking past the limp figure, Twilight was alarmed to see the cloud wall bearing down on them. She swiftly carried Rainbow inside and shut the basement door behind them. Not moments later, rain again pounded on the door fiercely. Twilight trotted down the stairs and gently laid the dripping pegasus on a clean worktable. _Too dark. _She hurriedly lit more candles and arranged them around her unconscious friend. She grabbed the first aid kit and a towel and began to examine Rainbow's injuries.

Rainbow's head had fallen to one side and a trickle of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. Twilight carefully pried the jaws apart and was relieved to find all of Rainbow's teeth in place. The inside of her cheek had been cut in some sort of collision. Twilight pressed a piece of gauze in between Rainbow's teeth and lip to stop the bleeding. The pegasus's still face, along with the rest of her body, was covered in cuts and bleeding gashes. The flying splinters and shards of glass had clearly been a factor in her injuries. Twilight carefully cleaned the wounds and bandaged the larger ones.

She was somewhat horrified to find that Rainbow's right foreleg was broken at the ankle. It was swelling up and was noticeably misshapen. Twilight had no idea how to fix it. She briefly contemplated consulting a medical magic book and learning how to heal all of Rainbow's injuries, including the broken bone. In a panic she found that she had no idea where that particular book was. _Oh what I would give for a little organization, _she mourned, sifting through the stacks, but then stopped. Attempting such a feat could kill her friend instead of heal her. An incorrect healing could cause untold complications. Books fell unheeded as the realization of what she could have done floored her. She shook considerably as she did her best to splint the limb instead.

The sight of Rainbow's wings nearly brought tears to Twilight's eyes. She carefully turned her unconscious friend over to examine them. Her right wing was broken halfway along the leading edge. Twilight could see the jagged and separated edges underneath the skin, though it had not broken through. The blue feathers were all missing, twisted, or broken; not a single one was still in place. Rainbow's left wing was in considerably better shape, though it appeared to be dislocated at the shoulder. Twilight managed to physically wrestle the joint back into position. Fortunately Rainbow didn't wake up or stir at all as Twilight very carefully dried the limp, mangled wings and folded them down against the pegasus's body for stability. Twilight straightened the feathers as best as she could, though she knew there was no saving most of them. She bound the damaged wings carefully with bandages to keep them still, then sat back. Rainbow was still unconscious and was very cold to the touch. Twilight quickly stoked the fire and put more fuel on it, then carefully transferred Rainbow's sleeping form to the bed beside it. The storm still roared fiercely outside, and the basement door was starting to rattle alarmingly.

Twilight shored up the door with a temporary magical shield before reinforcing it with a table. As she molded the table into the doorframe, Twilight gradually noticed that Rainbow was waking up. Her first confirmation that the pegasus was conscious was a soft whimper. In an instant, Twilight was at her side.

"Rainbow? Are you with me?"

Rainbow managed to crack an eye open, seemingly startled by Twilight's presence.

"Yeah," she said weakly, then with an effort she cleared her throat and spoke more confidently.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that. Rainbow lifted her head slightly, winced, and then looked down at her bandaged body. She looked up at Twilight with a challenging and petulant expression on her face.

"I don't wanna go to the hospital," she grumbled as a preventative measure.

Twilight snorted, but wore a relieved smile. She was glad to see her friend still maintained her feisty spirit.

"You won't. Not yet anyway," she acquiesced, but then looked puzzled. "Rainbow, do you remember what happened to you?"

"Uh…" the pegasus was temporarily lost for words. "Did I crash?" She shifted her uninjured foreleg, frowning at the dampness. "Did I crash in water?"

"Rainbow, there's a hurricane out there. I thought you were supposed to get to safety if your team couldn't control it!" Twilight admonished. She was exasperated but more concerned than anything else.

Rainbow could hear the worry in her voice, and thought hard about what she could remember. Twilight helped her sit up on the side of the bed.

"Hurricane, huh? No wonder it gave us so much trouble. Those were Everfree clouds then…"

"Yeah, yeah they were," Twilight said gravely. "Rainbow, you could have died!"

It finally hit Twilight how easily Rainbow could have been killed out there, and tears welled up in her eyes. She threw her forelegs around the injured pony, sobbing quietly.

"Twilight?!"

"I was so scared for you! I thought…" she choked on her tears. Even considering how close her friend came to dying was painful. "You were so hurt, Rainbow!"

Rainbow's face turned redder as she was slightly embarrassed and shocked by the unusual affection. But seeing how distraught Twilight was becoming, she quieted her voice to calm her friend.

"Twi, I'm the coolest, fastest, awesome-est pony anywhere. It takes more than a storm to kill me. Heh, it would have had to be at least… 20 percent stronger."

Rainbow's bravado was mostly contrived. She didn't feel very confident. She could barely move. The slightest wing twitch was met with a stab of pain, so she tried to keep still. The unicorn's embrace tightened at the mention of death. Scenarios with less fortunate outcomes flooded her mind. All Twilight wanted, all she needed, was the reassurance that her friend was alive and well. So she held the pegasus close and buried her muzzle in the matted mane on top of her head. She was close enough to feel Rainbow's careful shallow breaths as she tried not to move very much. Twilight took a deep breath and smelled the dampness, the sweat, and the sickly metallic scent of blood in the multicolored fibers and shuddered a little. The blanket moved to enclose them both in its warm folds. The light from her horn dimming again, Twilight was content to just hold her friend for a while. So grateful that Rainbow was alive, Twilight pressed a gentle kiss into the tangled mass of color.

Cocooned in welcome warmth, Rainbow willed herself to relax into the uncommon embrace and let the gentle thrill of being worried for wash over her. Feeling safe, she carefully molded into the hug and relaxed, resting her aching head against her friend's chest. She felt so safe, and so very tired. Twilight's body was warm and soft, and she felt herself drifting to a comfortable sleep leaning against her friend. She felt a gentle touch on top of her head just before she slipped into blissful sleep.

As her companion began to snore lightly, Twilight felt the weight of her friend leaning against her. She was completely limp and fast asleep. Twilight immersed herself in deep thought. She didn't want to move and accidentally wake her friend, so she mused upon their current situation. Twilight wasn't sure what came over her when she hugged the injured pegasus and wouldn't let go. She was so relieved and needed reassurance so badly that she hadn't thought much of it. Rainbow was in no position to refuse, and Twilight briefly worried that Rainbow had felt smothered or vulnerable. But then she remembered how the pegasus had willingly relaxed into her embrace and had fallen asleep lying against her. She could feel the soft puffs of air on her foreleg as Rainbow breathed evenly. It suddenly struck Twilight that she had never seen Rainbow this close or this trusting with anypony, and she felt honored. She was certain that the pegasus resting in her embrace was now her best friend. Twilight smiled. She'd never had one of those before. She was excited, but a bit wary. She didn't want to mess this up. She cherished this pony, and wondered how close best friends could become. The longer she sat there curled around Rainbow, the more she liked it. She let her mind fall quiet and she slipped into a light doze, resting her muzzle on Rainbow's head.

Rainbow woke only minutes later. She was warm and comfortable, but the throbbing pain in her body woke her up. She was confused for a moment, but then smiled a little when she realized where she was, and who was holding her. She sighed contentedly. _This is kinda nice. _Nopony had ever held her like this before. Whether that was because they never wanted to or because she refused to let them get that close, she wasn't sure. But she liked this a lot. Twilight was breaking down her walls and finding the softer Rainbow Dash beneath, and she wasn't running away. The conflicted pegasus could only hope Twilight liked what she found, because this pony was quickly becoming her best friend. They were closer now than Rainbow ever was with anypony else in town. Somehow, instead of scaring the pegasus, that thought proved to be comforting.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad for somepony to be close. Closeness wouldn't necessarily hurt her. _Twilight wouldn't hurt me_, she told herself. It was still hard to trust, though. It was hard to be this vulnerable and weak, but she didn't have much of a choice. In her injured state, she couldn't be as strong and tough as usual even if she tried. Deep down, the part of Rainbow that craved acceptance and affection was feeling particularly fulfilled. She wasn't sure why she had crash-landed near the library, but doing so had saved her life and perhaps given her a wonderful new connection with Twilight. _Yeah_, she mused, _I like this. I like… Twilight?_ She paused, slightly shocked at herself, then looked over at the expanse of lavender she was leaning into and smiled. _Yeah. I like Twilight. A lot._

Rainbow didn't get much more time to think before one of her bound wings spasmed, shooting pain through her whole body. She cried out, before stifling the sound with gritted teeth. Twilight woke up with a start and the warmth left the top of Rainbow's head, leaving her feeling exposed. She hadn't realized how nice it was.

"Rainbow, are you okay?" Twilight asked softly, loosening her embrace and leaning over to see Rainbow's face.

The pegasus grunted in response, unsure whether she should be embarrassed or grateful for the attention.

"Does it hurt, Rainbow?"

"No. I'm-"

Her words cut off as a wave of pain coursed through her body. She tried to hide a grimace as an injured wing spasmed again. She clenched her eyes shut and looked away from Twilight.

"…maybe," she ground out reluctantly between clenched teeth.

"You don't have to be so strong for me, Rainbow Dash. It's okay to be hurting or scared or weak. It's okay."

Her voice was so soft and gentle that Rainbow couldn't brush the comment off. Instead, she looked down with a small frown on her face, pondering the unicorn's words. She wouldn't meet Twilight's eyes, but she spoke quietly.

"You won't make fun of me?"

The fear ran deep. Though she would never admit it, Rainbow feared mockery and taunting, especially from those close to her. Nopony had ever seen the deep scars it left, and she had intended to keep it that way. This unicorn, however, was getting a fast pass to her heart and her deepest wounds. Rainbow trembled.

"Rainbow," Twilight said lovingly, rubbing a hoof over Rainbow's shaking shoulder, "why on earth would I do that? You are my best friend. I'll never make fun of you for opening up to me. I care about you very much."

The pegasus didn't look convinced, but she was slightly closer to making eye contact, so Twilight moved to stand face to face with her and supplemented her statement.

"I promise."

With that, Rainbow looked up sharply. Twilight was shocked to see tears forming in the usually indomitable mare's eyes. She expected Rainbow to look away, but she didn't.

"Do you _promise_ promise?" she asked, looking at Twilight's face to see if she was lying. Rainbow was panicky and desperate. She wanted to look away but she wanted an answer more.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," Twilight said gravely but with the ghost of a smile on her features.

Rainbow gave a small smile at that even as a tear traced its way down her face. She moved a foreleg to wipe it away, then winced. She started to fall over, shocked off balance by the sudden pain. She felt warmth at her side as Twilight caught her and leaned her up again. Rainbow was breathing heavily from the sudden stab of pain. Twilight didn't say anything as her friend composed herself. Rainbow looked up at Twilight from her position collapsed against the other mare's chest. She saw compassion and no small measure of affection dancing in those soft lavender eyes and smiled weakly.

"Thank you," she murmured as her eyes began to close of their own accord.

She rested her tired, achy head against Twilight's neck and sighed. The soft, clean fur against her tear-stained cheek felt good. It smelled nice, too. She realized vaguely that she was losing consciousness again. Everything was dimming and softening and numbing. She mutedly felt herself lifted away from Twilight's body and repositioned by tendrils of magenta magic. Her body pressed down onto a soft, giving surface and the tingle of the magic left her limbs. She opened one eye with difficulty – her eyelid felt so _heavy_.

"Twi?" She mumbled sleepily.

"Yes, Rainbow?"

The pegasus could see the outline of her friend standing beside the bed, though her vision was unfocused. She shivered slightly and promptly felt the warmth of a blanket spread over her body. She forced her uninjured foreleg to move and reached for her friend's blurred shape, craving some kind of connection. She felt dizzy and scared, but she relaxed when she felt a gentle hoof on hers. The bed dipped as Twilight sat down on the edge. She leant over her friend and caressed the colorful, tangled mane.

Rainbow's eyelid finally lost its battle with gravity and fell closed. The gentle pressure of her friend's hoof was swiftly luring her to unconsciousness and away from pain.

"Love… you…" Rainbow whispered almost too quietly to hear. She was on the edge of sleep, fading fast but needing to make her sentiment known. Had she been looking, Rainbow would have seen a mixture of shock, confusion, and then a fierce blush spread over Twilight's face. The unicorn smiled, slightly embarrassed but not at all upset, and then hesitantly moved closer to her friend. She leant over the still face and whispered into a cyan ear.

"I love you, too."

The ear twitched in response and a smile crept slowly onto Rainbow's face. Soon her breathing evened out as she fell deeply asleep. Twilight gently nuzzled her friend's cheek with hers. Looking peacefully at the sleeping mare, Twilight felt a rush of exhaustion all at once and her ears drooped suddenly. All of the stress, the magic use, the emotional turmoil, the thrill of how close she was becoming to Rainbow Dash finally caught up with her and she realized how tired she was.

She sighed peacefully, looking over her bandaged friend with fondness. Twilight checked to see that the reinforced basement door was still holding firm and that the storm had not yet abated. The sound of the rain high above the basement relaxed the unicorn further. She stoked the fire again, adding some logs to maintain the warmth, then laid down beside Rainbow.

Twilight lay on her side facing her sleeping friend, lost in thought. It all seemed to be happening so fast. She needed time to think. Yes, she knew she loved Rainbow. _But what _is _love? _ She wondered. _What kind of love is this? Is friendship a kind of love too? _She momentarily regretted her lack of knowledge about the subject. She started to mentally sort through her library collection to find a tome on the topic, but stopped. _Maybe,_ she thought, _maybe this is part of what Princess Celestia sent me here to learn. Maybe love is what friendship becomes._ She examined that thought. Something about it seemed off. She knew that what she was feeling was something _more._

The storm outside was slacking off slowly. The howling wind had died down to a dull roar and the rain wasn't pounding as hard. Her thoughts turned to what the rest of Ponyville must look like. She trusted that her less reckless friends had found shelter, but judging by the state of her tree when she rescued Rainbow, there might not be much left in the way of buildings around town. Another sheet of rain pounded outside and Twilight abandoned that thought in favor of observing the pony asleep in front of her.

Rainbow looked exhausted as she slept with her mouth partially open, snoring quietly. Twilight wasn't sure why, but she found the sight absolutely and unequivocally adorable. She giggled quietly. If Rainbow heard that, the indignation would be astronomical. However, the other pony slept on quite oblivious to the world. Twilight looked at the outline of broken wings under the blanket and suddenly went cold. What if Rainbow couldn't fly any more? What if she caught an infection and got terribly sick? What if the pain never went away? The "what ifs" plagued Twilight's mind for what felt like hours. She laid there at length, staring sightlessly at her friend, lost in thought. Disorganized worries and concerns filtered through her mind on a painful loop. Finally, she shook free of them and decided to take Rainbow's advice from months ago and simply live in the moment.

_Live in the moment, _she repeated to herself, gazing at the pegasus before her. She reached out a hoof and smoothed an orange forelock from the still face. In that moment, with her friend so helpless and innocent, all Twilight wanted to do was to be close to her and protect her. Twilight moved as near as she dared without waking her and cautiously pulled her unconscious friend closer. With one foreleg under a scruffy neck and the other laid carefully over a bandaged body, Twilight held Rainbow. She reveled in the closeness that she had never experienced before, the warmth, the safety of knowing that this pony had sought her out of the wreckage of her home while grievously injured… if that wasn't love, Twilight wasn't sure what else it could be. _Love… you…_ The words spoken in a rough whisper on the cusp of sleep echoed in her mind. She couldn't remember the last time anypony had said that to her. She nuzzled the forehead of the pony lying beside her and whispered,

"I meant it when I said I love you, you know."

"Mmm, so did I."

Twilight wasn't expecting the somewhat hoarse, muffled response from below her chin. She leaned back to look into half-opened, tired eyes.

"I didn't wake you, did I?"

Twilight looked very guilty and it made Rainbow's heart thump painfully, but she smiled.

"I can't think of a better way to wake up."

"Rainbow…"

"Yeah, Twi?"

"What… what happens now?"

Twilight looked almost scared, Rainbow realized, so she smiled reassuringly.

"What do you want to happen now?" Rainbow asked almost teasingly with a glint in her eyes.

"Uh… I have no ide-" her voice was cut off when Rainbow leaned forward and captured Twilight's mouth in a gentle kiss. Moving hurt, but Rainbow did not regret it. The kiss didn't last long, and it left them both grinning.

"That," Twilight said, her face lit up with a dreamy smile, "was a great idea."

Rainbow smiled back. If she could put such a huge smile on her favorite unicorn's face, she felt absolutely unstoppable. She gave a devilish grin and nuzzled that smile until it dissolved into another kiss. Rainbow was relieved to find that Twilight started that one. They both felt secure in mutual affection and relaxed simultaneously.

"Twilight?" Rainbow got a hum in response as the other mare was burying her face in a rainbow mane. "What are we?" Might as well define the relationship at some point. Rainbow was not one to wait around or to mince words.

"What do you want us to be?" Twilight asked coyly before kissing an expressive blue ear. It was fun to echo her companion's banter.

"Whatever this is," Rainbow said, continuing her sentence before Twilight could interrupt her with a copycat kiss. "I like it a lot." Twilight settled for a brief, chaste kiss before replying.

"Me too." They were silent for a moment, gazing into each other's eyes, connecting and enjoying every moment of it. Rainbow asked the question that would seal the deal.

"Twi, can we be each other's special somepony?"

Twilight smiled broadly.

"I like that even more."

* * *

Six hours later, the sky was clear once again. Everypony had survived the storm with few injuries and were now in town attempting to gather belongings and assess the damage. Only two were notably missing. Rainbow was lying in a room at the mostly undamaged hospital and had just come out of surgery to repair her broken wing and ankle. Twilight was by her side when she woke, shivering and aching, but alive.

"M... My wing?" she whimpered. Twilight stroked her face gently and felt her beloved friend relax into the touch.

"It'll be okay," she soothed. "You're going to be okay. I promise. I love you, remember?"

"L-Love you t-too," Rainbow said softly. She was shaking and her throat hurt but both ceased to matter to her when Twilight gently kissed her.

"Better?" Twilight asked tenderly.

"Better," she murmured.

They both knew recovery would take quite a while for both Rainbow's injuries and the damage to the town. Rainbow found that she would not need her customarily forced bravado to get through. Twilight was always with her to aid in her recovery. They fully intended to enjoy their new kind of togetherness as marefriends.

Life after the storm would never be the same. For two of Ponyville's residents the change turned out to be a very good thing after all.


End file.
